The Falcon Ridge/Grassy Hill Emerging Artists Showcase is not a contest, and artists won’t be judged per se, although the audience is surveyed as to which showcase artists they’d like to see return next year to participate in a Most Wanted Song Swap. This year’s Most Wanted Song Swap will feature Bettman & Halpin (Denver, CO), Kipyn Martin (Columbia, MD) and Kirsten Maxwell (Huntington, NY).

Among the Northeast’s most popular music festivals, the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, now in its 29th year, takes place August 4-6 at Dodds Farm on Route 7D in Hillsdale, New York, located in the foothills of the Berkshires near the tri-state corner of New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts. The festival features dozens of artists performing on several stages, a dance tent, children’s music and activities, and a wide array of crafts, food and other vendors. A Pre-Fest Tastings Day & Farm Market is slated for Thursday, Aug. 3, featuring locally grown food, drink and artisanal items, along with performances by a number of artists from the late afternoon through the evening on The Lounge Stage presented by Tribal Mischief Productions.

Those camping at Falcon Ridge and staying up through the early morning hours can enjoy an array of informal jams, mini-showcases and after-hours song circles that help foster a sense of “folk” community and a different kind of festival experience at the Big Orange Tarp, Budgiedome, Pirate Camp and elsewhere. Singer-songwriters Terry Kitchen and Tony Kearney host the Nite Owl Swap and Nite Owl Hoot.

Three-day festival tickets are $165 with camping or $125 without camping through July 10 and rise by $25 after then. Single -day tickets also are available, as are discounted tickets for teenagers (ages 13-18). Gates open for campers on Wednesday afternoon, Aug. 3. More information on the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival can be found at www.falconridgefolk.com.

Editor’s Note: Although I enjoyed arranging and hosting late-night song swaps at Falcon Ridge under the banner of AcousticMusicScene.com for nearly a decade – in partnership with Tribes Hill and, more recently, Pirate Camp, I’m taking a break from doing so this year. I enjoyed visiting various campsites and checking out a number of artists who were new to me last year and plan to do so again. I’m coordinating the free, daylong Huntington Folk Festival on Long Island, NY on the Saturday prior to Falcon Ridge.